America's $87 billion traffic jam ranks Boston, DC and Chicago as the worst in US

MSN.com ^ | 2/12/2019 | Phil LeBeau

[Signalman]

Time is money, and a new report shows just how much time and money American's are wasting sitting in their cars and trucks.

The total last year was $87 billion, or $1,348 per driver, according to new data analyzed by research firm INRIX. Each year, INRIX issues a Global Traffic Scorecard based on millions of pieces of data from connected vehicles, departments of transportation, cellular positioning reports and a number of other sources.

The picture they paint of congestion in the U.S. in 2018 is not pretty, especially when it comes to the excess amount of time we spend behind the wheel slowly working our way to work or some other destination.

"Traffic is still really bad out there," said Trevor Reed, Transportation Analyst with INRIX.

INRIX ranks Boston, Washington D.C. and Chicago as the three worst U.S. cities for congestion in terms of hours lost by drivers annually.

In the Boston area, INRIX calculates drivers lost 164 hours, just under one week, dealing with slow-moving traffic last year. The cost of that congestion the Boston area in terms of lost productivity came to $4.1 Billion according to the report. INRIX says that works out to an average "congestion cost" per Boston area driver of $2,291.

The analysis says Washington, D.C. and Chicago drivers lost 155 and 138 hours respectively due to heavy traffic in 2018. Both are ranked by INRIX as slightly more congested than New York City and Los Angeles.

"Old cities that did not develop around cars and driving have the worst congestion," said Reed.

[Wuli]

I think Metro North on its own could be a profitable private railroad - the population density & demand is there.

But Metro North is part of the whole MTA structure, with states and NYC governments kicking in subsidies for it.

The financial facts for each entity controlled by the MTA are all lumped together in the MTA’s financial reports. That consolidation HIDES exactly how well or how poorly fare revenues are or are not meeting the needs of
each MTA unit.

Those units are:

Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority

MTA New York City Transit

MTA Staten Island Railway

MTA Long Island Rail Road

MTA Metro-North Railroad

MTA Bridges and Tunnels

MTA Capital Construction

MTA Bus Compmay

I believe most of the subsidies are being used to subsidize operating losses of the NYC bus and subway system.

[fruser1]

They’re designing them to be walkable not driveable.

Freedom of movement not good for commies.

[mosesdapoet]

AMTRAK Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee was one of those dedicated high speed services that speed wise never met its hyperbole . It could have replaced the Chicago North Shore electrified commuter line, but never acquired its right of way. Which used Chicago L tracks into the Loop. But was denied use in the late 50’s and abandoned when the city merged individual privately owned companies Chicago Surface Lines (street car and bus service) Chicago Motor Coach Co servicing suburban north shore suburbs and Chicago Elevated railroad was reorganized like AMTRAK into into the Chicago Transit Authority.

[bobcat62]

And with the traffic... these companies keep putting the jobs in Boston. Go figure.

Not long ago, I had to drive from Watertown to Logan to drop someone off. With 5 minutes at the airport, it took me 3 1/2 hours for the round-trip. Maybe 7 miles each way.

After that painful lesson, I’ve given up on job opportunities in Downtown Boston.